The Jackie Robinson Reader: Perspectives on an American Hero

It's probably not possible to publish an uninteresting book about pioneering African American Major Leaguer Jackie Robinson (1919-1972). This year is the 50th anniversary of Robinson's breaking the racial barrier in Major League Baseball. To commemorate that achievement, Tygiel (Baseball's Great Experiment) has collected a variety of writing, both recent and contemporary, to illuminate the life, career and personality of this extraordinary American. Interviews with Robinson's brother Mack (also a world-class athlete) and a college football teammate recall Robinson's brilliant feats in track and field and big-time college football during the 1930s. Tygiel includes his own detailed examination of the failed racist attempt to court-martial the young Lieutenant Robinson in 1944; a wonderful account by legendary black sportswriter Wendell Smith of Robinson's 1946 minor-league debut in Jersey City; a 1979 academic study on the social impact and political clash between Republican-to-be Robinson and the left-wing Paul Robeson; and a fascinating 1963 exchange of letters between Robinson and Malcolm X. (Mar.)